ISEE Vocab Prep C-D

caustic

bitter, biting, acidic

cavort

to leap about, behave boisterously

censure (n.)

harsh criticism

censure (v.)

to rebuke formally

chide

to voice disapproval

circuitous

roundabout

circumlocution

indirect and wordy language

clairvoyant

able to perceive things that normal people cannot

clandestine

secret

cloying

sickeningly sweet

coagulate

to thicken, clot

coalesce

to fuse into a whole

cogent

intellectually convincing

cognizant

aware, mindful

compunction

distress caused by feeling guilty

concomitant

accompanying in a subordinate fashion

confidant

a person entrusted with secrets

confound

to frustrate, confuse

consecrate

to dedicate something to a holy purpose

constrain

to forcibly restrict

construe

to interpret

consummate

to complete a deal; to complete a marriage ceremony through sexual intercourse

contrite

penitent, eager to be forgiven

contusion

bruise, injury

convivial

characterized by feasting, drinking, merriment

corpulence

extreme fatness

corroborate

to support with evidence

covert

secretly engaged in

cupidity

greed, strong desire

curtail

to lessen, reduce

debacle

a disastrous failure, disruption

debauch

to corrupt by means of sensual pleasures

decorous

socially proper, appropriate

decry

to criticize openly

defile

to make unclean, impure

deft

skillful, capable

defunct

no longer used or existing

demagogue

a leader who appeals to a people’s prejudices

demean

to lower the status or stature of something

denigrate

to belittle, diminish the opinion of

depravity

wickedness

derelict

abandoned, run-down

deride

to laugh at mockingly, scorn

desiccated

dried up, dehydrated

despot

one who has total power and rules brutally

diaphanous

light, airy, transparent

diffident

shy, quiet, modest

dilatory

tending to delay, causing delay

dirge

a mournful song, especially for a funeral

discern

to perceive, detect

discomfit

to thwart, baffle

discursive

rambling, lacking order

disparate

sharply differing, containing sharply contrasting elements

dispel

to drive away, scatter

disrepute

a state of being held in low regard

dissuade

to persuade someone not to do something

distend

to swell out

dither

to be indecisive

dogmatic

aggressively and arrogantly certain about unproved principles

dour

stern, joyless

duplicity

crafty dishonesty

duress

hardship, threat